This show’s run is finished, which is a shame because I’d love for you all to see it.
Lise Vigneault, armed with not only Jim Carrey’s rubbery face but also a similar mischievous glint in the eye, brings several character onstage for a few minutes each to entertain. Entertain, they do. Funny, endearing, skirting with the edge of cliche but never going too far into that dark territory, we get song and dance and monologues: the usual one-person show fare.
Highlights were the interstitial video clips, Lise’s hard-working face and some great song arrangements that mingled humour with Lise’s solid vocal talents.
Too bad you can’t see it.
-fv
And there were.
Honestly, I’m not 100% sure what to write about this show. Describing it to you would be like trying to show you what La Pieta looks like by grabbing a pot of Play-Doh and squeezing it through the gaps in my crushing fist. But here goes.
There Will Be Lasers is a full sensory experience. The lights, the 80s-sci-fi-apocalyptic music, the spoken word that sounds like a science thesaurus read backwards, the smoke that fills the air and your nose, those beams of bright red lines tracing lines through the space of the theatre. And wandering through it all is the source of the voice, a shadowy spectre from beyond, never glimpsed but sensed as the faintest hint of a shadow, the outline of an LED-lined hood, a red flare where the laser has hit something, no, someone, that has halted its infinite journey through the cosmos.
I cannot remember seeing a show at the Fringe that will leave such a lasting visual imprint on my memory. There is no real story here, no beginning, middle and end. There is a series of impressions. There is no musical opus beyond the unrelenting waves of synth. There is no set design beyond the regimented arcs and flights of photons. The spoken word script, a charming mix of kooky and evocative, is delivered slowly, as though each word costs her a fortune in some otherworldly currency, by Sarah Claire while she traces steps only she can see in that semi-dark.
If you want to visit another dimension, to be immersed in some mind’s creation of artifice and delight, to exist in an entirely new way, go see the show that delivers on such a bold promise: There Will Be Lasers.
There is one last show on Sunday afternoon.
-fv
Two bloggers at Hour reviewed yesterday’s show. Here’s the second:
Review: METEOR is made of all-natural ham
Juicy bits:
I was so impressed by the genuine light-heartedness of their spontaneous creations, I actually managed to surrender to the ride. Natural hams… these three comics made the most of nothing and proved to be at their best when the strains of managing the story-line reached the weirdest levels of absurd… and the packed crowd at the Petit Campus stage loved every minute of it.
I saw Poison The Well on Saturday, and immediately decided it would win the Chapters award for Best Text. Poison The Well is a gripping thriller—emotionally-charged and full of surprises. Hey, there are even a few laughs thrown in to break the tension.
—bj
Saw The Duck Wife at Tangente last night. It was the first time I was at that venue as I usually hover around the beer tent. It’s a very nice venue and perfect for dance.
So what did I see? It’s a dance show with a live rock band that tells the mythic tale of the man who married a duck. First, shows that have live bands playing before the show starts are awesome. It’s a touch that I love every time I see it. The band played music throughout the show. They had a few technical sound issues but it’s an early show. Hopefully, they’ll have it worked out for the next one. I think I preferred the instrumental accompaniment. The rock aesthetic was an interesting choice but I’m not sure it worked for the show. The band was game but I found it either distracting or inappropriate to the mood I wanted to see.
The dance was super fun, inventive pieces with charm and personality. A couple of them did a great job of moving the story forward as well. It’s tricky combining storytelling with dance because it can get confusing if you’re too abstract and it can get simplistic if you’re too literal. While there were a few rough patches, I think I managed to follow the show (it’s possible I made up my own story but that’s fine too!). The performers were uniformly excellent. The duck wife especially gave a charismatic performance.
Note to people running shows at the Fringe: make sure you have clearly discussed your latecomer policy with the people running the door. There were a ton of people being let in at terrible moments, in the middle of a song, middle of a dance piece, middle of a monologue. It was totally distracting off the top especially when there are huge breaks between acts/sets.
I will recommend this show but with a few qualifications: 1) If they can work out the technical issues. 2) Overall, I liked the show. It’s an ambitious mix that can be very tough to pull off. This group certainly did enough for me to to enjoy it but there were clearly some moments that could use some refinement. 3) Go see it if you like dance numbers because they were best part of the show.
-fv
I asked via twitter and facebook what I should write about. The first inspiring response was from one of our students (hi, Joe) asking about improv books. I can do that. I’ll be brief and only covering books I’ve read. Sorry, sweetheart, I haven’t got time for anything else.
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